Sept 16th 2013

Well it has been weird to think that I am almost done with my mission. Where did the time go? During times of your mission you might not think it is going by fast but when you are at the end it's like it was a blur. I feel like there was soo much that happened that I don't even remember everything anymore. It's crazy. It's like I was abducted by aliens for 2 years. Sometimes I think, did I change enough? Did I become who the Savior wanted me to be? Did I give it my all and will I leave with no regrets?
Lots of times in my mission I have felt that fear that I wasn't working hard enough, that I wasn't a good missionary that I didn't change. A few nights ago I finally came to the realization that I had changed, that I became a better person. That I'm still not perfect but that I am better. I feel like I am more at peace to know that I did what I was sent here to do. And that it was different than what I expected it to be.
Heavenly Fathers ways are much higher than our ways. He understands our needs even when we think our needs are something else. Fear is a tactic that Satan uses to stop you in your tracks. To focus on yourself and not on the welfare of other people.
When I was thinking about if I had changed a few nights ago I realized that I really have. At the beginning of my mission there were things that I would tell companions or whoever that I wasn't willing to do. I thought my way was better, or more efficient. That I knew what I was talking about.
I see a lot of the new missionaries that are coming in and being and acting the same way I was when I started. Thinking that some things were so funny. Or that this was the right way to do that. It didn't click in my head that I was the same way when I was there. That's when I realized that I changed. Alot. I am SO greatful for the atonement and how it allows us to change and become better people. I am greatful that Heavenly Father changed me these past two years. I wish that I could stay here and continue to become a better person, but I now know that it is time for me to go.
It's like in the Plan of Salvation when we were in the Pre-Earth life and we wanted to progress. But in order for us to do so we needed to come here to gain a body. We needed to take the next step. That's what I need to do now. I need to continue to progress, but by taking that next step.

Aug 12th 2013

Hey Mom,

So Transfer calls came and I am being transferred to Eugene 5th ward. It is really weird because I am serving in an area that we were in ALL the time but now I just cover the family ward. So this is probably going to be my weirdest transfer. 

So things have been going pretty good. Our baptism that was going to happen this last week was postponed to the 25 which will actually be better for Lauren. It is a huge bummer that I wont be able to work in the YSA anymore but luckily I will be able to go to all of their baptisms. So that will be good. 

This week was a good final week in the YSA. Got lots of work done. Had some awesome lessons with Lauren and Nate. Had a great meeting at the mission home. Walked like crazy all over Eugene on exchanges.

I'm excited to work like crazy this next transfer. We will be walking a lot because we dont have a car. With the new age change we have been getting a huge increase in missionaries so they are doubling up wards. So now I will be sharing the ward with a set of sisters.

I'm not sure who my new companion will be. I will be picking him up on Wednesday. Tomorrow I have two meetings I have to go to. One goes from12:30 to 4 and the other goes from 4 to 9. Then on Wednesday we have more meetings from about 9 to 7 or so. So pray that I get through it. 

August 5th 2013

Hey Mom,

Sorry for my last letter being lame. Things are going great here! This last week was awesome. We had exchanges with the assistants to the president on Tuesday and it was really good. It was a good exchange.

 

We also taught this white guy that converted to Muslim and we asked him about his conversion story. Turns out he was selling cocaine in a back room of a lingerie party and there was a Muslim guy that he was selling to who started teaching him and eventually converted him. Pretty interesting. He lives in a pretty weird part of Eugene. He also got into a debate with this guy that was on something as to whether God was a man or a woman. And when we had the lesson he wanted us to just sit on the sidewalk and talk with him. 

Other highlights of the week were we got into the spanish missionaries apartment and took all their fans because they would leave them on all day.

We also had dinner with this weird druggie less active in his apartment. When we came in it was really small and smelt like pot. He is an artist so he had paintings everywhere and one that he was working on in the middle of the room. It was pretty cool and very colorful. He also had some "herbs" next to it that probably made him think that it was waaay more vivid.

We had a really long day on Sunday but it was great! we had stake correlation with the Stake President, his crew, and President Young his councilor P Lowary and our district leaders. It was pretty crazy. President Barnes and President Young didn't see eye to eye on some things. It was weird too because President started telling them about some of the transfers going on in the stake. A few of the wards are going to be doubled up with Elders and Sisters. Salt Lake asked President if he felt like this mission could be a 50% sisters mission. So that might be happening soon. So I might be getting transferred a week from today. I'm not sure though. President hasn't told us which one is being moved. But I kinda want to stay.

After our stake correlation we had ward council and church. The YSA here has really good fast and testimony meetings. We had about 17 people that gave their testimonies. We had to people that came to Church. Lauren, who is getting baptized this Sunday, and Ryan. Then after Church we had a lesson with Lauren that was really good. She went to a Baptism with us on Saturday and now she is really excited for hers. She is VERY prepared. After Lauren's lesson we taught Ryan. He stayed for all of church and in our lesson we walked in and said "I'm ready to be Baptized." Turns out he was praying the night before for an answer to all these different questions and at church he got all his answers. He said that he was really surprised that he got his answers so quick.

Then after our lesson with him we taught a less active who wants to get back in to things. So it was a great day Sunday. 

So that's about it for this week!

 

July 29th 2013

Hey mom!

Thanks for the email. Things have been pretty good. We have been teaching this girl named Lauren that is super awesome! she will be baptized on the11th of August. We spent 3 different days learning about family history this week. We went on exchanges this week with Cottage grove 1st missionaries that was pretty good. We worked them pretty hard which was great.

We had a Hootenanny on Saturday that was really small but it was good.

July 22nd 2013

Hey mom,

Thanks for the email

Things are doing pretty good here. President Young had an idea for us to do a "trek" where we are going from Eugene to Salt Lake through tracting hours. So the mission together will be tracting 800 hours for the 800 miles it takes to get from here to salt lake. So that will be pretty fun.

So we are trying to figure out how we can use family search as more of a finding tool so last tuesday and this tuesday we are going to the family history center and learning how to do more of it. I logged on to my account and there is your parents dad and that's it. So I have no idea what I am doing.

We also have been doing service for this crazy lady that calls us all the time. We managed to pack a trailer load of stuff in to a 5x5 storage unit. This is her 4th unit that is now full of random junk.

We went on exchanges and I was with Elder Michelsen down in Creswell for a day. We helped this other lady by clearing her yard of blackberry bushes. It was pretty intense. My legs got scraped up a bit because the info didnt get down the line that we were going to be doing that so I had to manage with shorts.

Well thats about all the exciting things that have been happening this week!

July 15th 2013

Hey Mom,

Thanks for the email. Things are going pretty slow here in the YSA but we did pick up some awesome investigators. That is something that I do love about serving here. You may have a difficult time finding people but the people you meet are usually crazy prepared. We are teaching a girl named Lauren who is awesome! We talked to her on the street and set up a time to meet with her. This week we had our lesson and she wants to be baptized on the 11th of August.

As for other highlights for the week. We did a service project with the YSA at a saint Vincent de Paul car lot washing cars and there was an awesome van that I totally want. It's one of those vans that people usually live out of under a bridge. This week we had our mission leadership council meeting at the mission home to go over what we were suppose to talk about during zone training meeting. We were suppose to focus mostly on how to improve our finding so Elder Henrie and I made a park the the church gym so we could work on talking to people in the park. We wanted to present a theme that we could focus on so we decided on "Find em' Hook em' ". So what we did is an object lesson where i hooked an old tie and was behind a little wall we made that was suppose to be the lake. Then Elder Henrie was the Fisherman who was suppose to reel the fish in. So I acted like a fish while he chased me around the gym and then brought me in. And we talked about how it applies to missionary work. It was pretty fun and made our zone think that we were completely crazy but it was good. The look on their faces was priceless.

Other Highlight was we are teaching another kid named Nate who called us because some missionaries gave him a card with our phone number on it and he said he felt like he was being pulled toward the LDS church. He was telling us about some of his experiences and it is pretty awesome.

We also had to help move some crazy old ladies stuff around her storage unit that was completely packed with stuff. Turns out it was only 1 of 3 storage units that she has been renting for about 20 years and was full of tons of crap that was for the most part broken.

Elder Henrie went on 3 way exchanges with Veneta and Eugene Spanish missionaries. I  went with Spanish and had a pretty slow exchange. They had a Branch party to celebrate pioneer day and it was pretty fun. I don't speak any spanish so I just chilled and ate mexican food while I watched little spanish kids go to town on a pinata. Then the branch president said he had some advice to give me and then said "All you can do is all you can do. But all you can do is enough." 

Well thats about it for this week. There are tons of crazy hippies in town because of the Oregon County fair.   

July 8th 2013

Hey Mom!

Sounds like the 4th of July was a blast back home. For us it sounded like a war zone mixed with drunk party kids running around screaming. Kids here do use any opportunity to have a party. I think a lot of the party was actually happening the 3rd right after class got out.

So last Monday was transfers so we actually had to keep 2 other missionaries with us until tuesday night. It was a ton of fun because Elder Gowen has served in this ward before so he was able to tell us about people they were working with. For FHE we went on a hike to Spencer's Butte which was pretty cool. Then when we were getting ready to go to bed it was sooo insanely hot and humid that we couldnt sleep. Then someone decided to shoot off some mortars every 20 minutes outside of our apartment.

The 4th was mellow for us  because we did "soft proselyting" throughout the mission. so we had an appointment and walked around talking to people then did some service. we had to be in our apartment by 7 so it was really boring. we ended up turning our apartment in to a racket ball room. it was pretty fun. 

Thats basically all that has been happening this week!

Baptizing the World!

July 1st 2013

Hey Mom, 

Thanks for the email. Sounds like lots of fun things are going on back home.

Today was transfers and both Elder Henrie and I are staying here. It's pretty cool actually to be in Eugene during transfers because we can go t o the transfer spot and see everyone move around. This week has been really slow but we are trying to get things picked up. We did have a baptism though! Madison got baptized and it went pretty good. He is really excited about the Gospel. So Yesterday at Church we were in a correlation with our ward mission leader after ward council and President and Sister Young dropped by. President pulled Elder Henrie and I in to a room and told Elder Henrie that his grandpa just passed away. He was 93 and Elder Henrie was really close to him but he took it pretty well. That is about everything that has happened this week. 

Future Bishopric

June 17th 2013

Hey mom!

Thanks for the email and pictures. I didn't get your letter yet but hopefully I will soon. I did order my glasses but I didn't get them yet. they should be coming in on Thursday or Friday. Things are crazy here in Eugene. Everyone is leaving for summer. Tons of Graduations have been going on the past few days and today. Right now its a little weird because all the college kids families are in town for their graduations. So now you see old people playing beer pong too with their kids. That or you see the kids try and cover up what they usually do on a nightly basis. Tracting hasn't been too productive here because anyone that shows a little bit of interest is leaving to go home to China or India or wherever. It's weird with the kids moving because there is just a ton of junk everywhere. dumpsters are overflowing and tons of left over furniture just chillin on the front lawns. All the insides of college apartments are now out on the front lawn. And lets just say you see some interesting stuff. So we are now teaching 3 people that are staying here for the summer. kinda. Mike is leaving soon so that will be really lame. They are having a Sisters transfer this coming monday and we are kinda hoping that the YSA sisters both get moved because there isn't enough work to keep both sets going.

This week was zone conference which was great! its awesome not having to travel forever to get to it. And I got to see the Brookings Elders and see how everything was going. So that's basically what has been going on here in Eugene. 

June 10th 2013

Hi mom,

Things are going well here in Eugene. Everything is crazy because of finals this week. So all the kids are going nuts. Because our apartment is right next to campus we hear it all night! This kid up the road had a barmitsfah (i have no idea how to spell that) but he was having one for fun. He invited us to it. really he is just a stoner kid who isn't religious at all but wanted to have one for the dance party afterward. But he brought in a translator so he could do the reading for 2 hours from the tora.

Other things that are going on this week. We hiked a mountain for a meeting with our mission president. It was pretty cool but I thought I was going to die because we took the short insanely steep way up. We had a zone meeting that we had to teach this week that was 3 hours long so we made a awesome tower out of tables and Elder Henrie climbed it as we talked about rising to greater heights. My allergies have been destroying me too which hasn't been fun at all. I cant wear my contacts at all so I am sporting my super ghetto glasses. Last night Elder Henrie and I had to present something on behalf of our zone in front of the stake high council and ward mission leaders for the stake and my contacts were going nuts. My eyes were watering the entire time. 

Elder Henrie got food poisoning so I chilled by the window and watched all the people walk by after I did a ton of paperwork mumbo jumbo. There were about 7 people that went by digging in our neighbors trash for cans. One guy comes by every morning around 7 am.

We are working with a recent convert who is in love with my little pony but is also a crazy knife fighter. he quizes us now every time we go over on the main 6. Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie pie, Flutter shy, Rainbow dash, and Twilight sparkle. He is going to a convention in washington for it which is ridiculous. anyways thats about if for this week.

Racquetball in Eugene

June 3rd 2013

Hi Mom,

So things have been pretty good here in Eugene. We are starting to get use to the area and that pace of missionary work. It's still pretty crazy being here though. I feel like we have more curve balls thrown at us being in Eugene because we are so close to the mission office. We went on 2 different exchanges this week with Cottage Grove missionaries and some Eugene Spanish elders which was pretty good. They cut everyone's miles so we have to drive a lot less. So we have been trying out the bus. It's pretty fun though. So when I was on exchanges with spanish we got a phone call saying that a visa waiter had just got his visa and was flying out monday. So we had to pick him up because he would be with spanish till monday. Dropping everything and picking him up changed up our entire day so we ended up walking about 2 and a half hours to try and visit someone who wasn't there. we were able to take a bus that saved us some walking time to get back to our apartment. It was pretty fun to stay at their apartment though because we were in a trio for the day and they had the Chinese Elders staying with them. Elder Kwok is from Hong Kong and Richards is from Sandy. They were both super cool and Richards won The Price is Right. 

Yesterday was Stake conference for us and we had 2 visiting seventies which was awesome. Elder Erickson and Elder Schweitzer. They gave great talks and we had 3 different meetings with them. Then Yesterday we had an entire day full of tracting planned and as we were walking out the door to start we got a call saying that we needed to get an Elder who was going home within the next few days due to medical. So we had Elder Hill with us for a Sunday. But we just dropped him off at the mission office this morning.

The people here in Eugene are crazy! It's kinda like a huge dirty Ashland. This girl we are teaching came to our meeting at the institute wearing a white wig a dog collar and a halloween mickey mouse hat. Oh Eugene. And there are quite a few drunk homeless people sleeping all over the place.

So school is about to get out so the parties are really going to start up. We were knocking on this apartment complex and there was a party going on in the apartment across the small courtyard from where we were that seemed pretty crazy. This guy came up in a pirate costume with a ton on boose and knocked on the door. Elder Henrie looked at him and said "why are you dressed up in a pirate costume?" as soon as he said that the guy answered the door in the same pirate costume and said "Welcome to the house of gay pirates!" Pretty interesting life here. The sun has finally been coming out so out with the lawn chairs and beer pong tables. The first time I was ever offered to do a keg stand happened last week. I don't think the party life is for me. And I could never live in Eugene. Especially because my allergies are killing me! Even though I'm taking Zyrtec I feel like I'm going to die! 

This morning we played racket ball with the 1st councilor in our mission presidency. It was a lot of fun and was pretty crazy. I will try and send a picture!

Love Ya!

-Elder Berg  

May 28th 2013

Sorry Mom,

Yesterday was Memorial Day so I couldn't email due to the library being closed. So we are allowed to take some time today to send a quick email home. So Eugene is Crazy. My companion is awesome. The YSA work is like being a new missionary again because of how different it is. People really don't want to talk religion so that makes it difficult. Eugene is filled with a ton of Crazy people. The first day I was here I talked to a guy named Hill Billie Duck. But I like seeing the crazies because it makes things interesting. A lot of people here are not very respectful of religion which is sad to see. But there are people that really are those that have been looking for the Gospel.

So my first week here has been a huge adjustment. We have YSA Elders, YSA Sisters, Chinese Elders, and family ward sisters who all cover the campus. But we also cover all of the YSA in the surrounding 3 stakes.

Being on the Campus and surrounding area is weird. It's different to see the college life outside of Utah. There are tons of Sororities and Fraternities around campus that are huge. Night time seems to be the time to party, play beer pong, throw frisbees at beer bottles, or bean bag toss when you are super drunk. Or get crazy high. It's a peculiar lifestyle. And honestly it's pretty gross. Yeah. But my companion is awesome! Elder Henrie is from New Mexico and is super chill. We are really trying to see what we can do to get the work going here in Eugene. So we met with President and Sister Young to talk about the work and how we can improve.

 So on Memorial Day we went to a place called hometown buffet for lunch. Which was a terrible mistake. I ate 4 plates of food, then went back to some missionaries' apartment and spent the next few hours vomiting. I was throwing up until this afternoon. But I'm doing pretty good now. Still feel sick but not bad.     

May 20th 2013

Sorry I am emailing later then usual. I am now in Eugene over the YSA ward. My companions are coming in together but he doesn't show up until 8:45 so Elder Black and I are chilling here at the University of Oregon until he gets here. We are the new zone leaders over the Eugene zone. We have 14 elders and 6 sisters. I have been told that all we basically do is hang out on campus and talk to people. And we travel throughout Eugene and surrounding areas to teach the young single adults.

I wasn't really excited to get this assignment but after hearing about it I think it will be a lot of fun. It will be a HUGE change from Brookings. I'm pretty bummed to leave there but I guess I'm suppose to be here. We had some awesome people in Brookings that I didn't want to leave. Especially Jeff and Molly who were the greatest ever! They were who I have been praying to meet for the past 20 months so I was pretty dang sad to leave. In my last weeks email I told President about them and the experience we had. When I got the transfer call president asked if I would allow him to share my email in a fireside Saturday night. Then on Sunday morning he called and said he wanted to meet them within the next month. When I got to Eugene he said that on Sunday he shared my experience in a Stake conference. I didn't have the opportunity to really say goodbye to them because they were gone or tied up with things on Saturday and Sunday so that was a huge bummer. But all I can do is pray that Elder Davis and His companion Elder Argyle will take care of them. They have both only been out 3 months but I have faith in Davis. He is a good missionary.

But on a positive note Lori got baptized the Saturday before I left. She wanted to before one of us got transferred we could be there. Her and Jeff were suppose to get married but they couldn't because of a money issue so Jeff moved out so she could make her date. We had 7 Investigators there which was awesome! Elder Davis Baptized her and I confirmed her. I wish I could have stayed but I know President is inspired and this is where he needs me to be. But if he changes his mind at all I will be there in a heart beat! Best area of my mission.

Oh and before I forget we had another awesome miracle happen that was CRAZY! We were doing our new missionary training in the morning time on Tuesday when we got a phone call from an unknown number. I answered the phone and it was a lady that we gave a Book of Mormon to probably 3 or more weeks ago named Shelia. She said that she had been reading and praying about the Book of Mormon we gave her a few weeks ago and she believes it came from the Lord. She asked if we could meet with her to go over some questions she had and if she could get some more books. So we set up to meet with her 2 hours later at the church.

Shelia had gotten back a few years ago from Jerusalem after studying the Bible for 7 years at a Bible college. She seems to know pretty good Hebrew and studies A LOT. She had read up to 3 Nephi 21 and had over 30 questions written down that she wanted to go over. They were pretty in depth so we only got to go over 2 of them but we gave her Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price. She went home and get straight in to D&C. I was completely blown away at what had happened with her. She said that when she reads the Book of Mormon she says that it is congruent with the Bible and answers a lot of questions that she had. When we answered a few of her questions she said: "Oh now that makes so much more sense!" She was just blown away with the things we were sharing with her and asked us why she didn't know about any of this sooner. Elder Davis and Argyle will be meeting with her I think this week. She is so eager to learn more. 

That's about it for this week. I will try and send pictures maybe later if a get a chance.

May 6th 2013

Hey mom,

So I'm not exactly sure but I think I know who you are talking about. which is weird because I don't think I ever gave him your contact information. weird.

So this week was pretty mellow. It was super hot here for a few days which was nice but at the same time wasn't very fun to walk around in. We had a little miracle happen. When we left the apartment on Thursday it was super hot so I said to Elder Davis I hope we run in to the ice cream truck today. Then we went to teach Chris and Katie. Then we were on our way to another appointment and I said something along the lines of that I wanted to find the ice cream truck so we could get some ice cream. As soon as I said that the ice cream man came around the corner pulled over and said that he sees us walking around a lot and wanted to treat us to some free ice cream. ICE CREAM MIRACLE! It was pretty great. Then we later ran in to this kinda crazy drunk guy named woody.

So we have had some pretty good lessons this week. One of our investigators finished the Book of Mormon and probably half of the book Our Heritage. They want to have a BBQ before one of us leaves on may 20th. They are really nice but they just want to learn about the church for the sake of learning. But they love for us to come and visit them. Last time we were there they gave us some smoked salmon that they caught that was pretty dang good.

We tracted in to a guy named Ivan who is Hispanic and he is pretty excited about the Book of Mormon and Christ visiting the Americas.

Lori is still getting baptized on the 18th which is great! Her Fiancee and her were planning on getting married on June 1st but she really wants to get baptized before one of us goes. So they are going to have bishop marry them in his office so she can get baptized Then they are having a formal wedding on the 1st of June. 

So that's it for this week! Looking forward to talking to everyone on mothers day!

Apr 29th, 2013

Hey mom! thanks for the email. Things are going pretty good here in Brookings. Yesterday we had Lori show up with her son Christian as well as another lady we are working with named Katie and her 4 kids. So that was great!

So there aren't too many highlights for this last week. We did have an awesome lesson with Seth and Cassandra this last week. We were going to teach them the Gospel of Jesus Christ but they had some questions that took the lesson down a different path. They had some questions about the Plan of Salvation and our pre-earth life and life after this. So we were explaining a little about it and that our families can be sealed forever. So we started talking about eternal marriage and the Temple. At first they weren't terribly happy hearing about eternal marriage because they thought that when you were married here on earth that you were stuck forever even after divorce. So they thought that they were sealed still to their previous spouses still. So we had to explain that they weren't and that marriage isn't eternal until we go the the temple and are sealed for eternity. That we aren't sealed unless we do that. After we explained that they had a sigh of relief and then started giving each other high fives. Then they started talking about how they should maybe get sealed together and to their kids. Cassandra had one of the Salt Lake City temple pass along cards and said "I want to get sealed here!" then Seth said "Yeah I wanna get sealed in Hogwarts!" So we talked to them about what steps need to be taken in order to do so and that the first step is to pray and think about what we have taught them. Then to be Baptized by someone that holds that proper Priesthood authority. They are awesome! 

So that is the highlight for the week!  

Apr 22nd 2013

Hey mom! 

Thanks for the emails. So first in response to your questions in the interview President had a little more structure where he had a few questions that he asks everyone when in interviews. Then we just talked about the area and possibilities of what is going to happen after I leave here. He asked some questions about former areas I have worked in and former companions. He told me that I seem to do better in remote areas and I told him I would rather be in smaller towns over big towns. So he said that when I get transferred he will probably put me in a smaller isolated community. I think partly because I enjoy it more and because he can trust me in not doing something stupid and disobedient. The only downside is he also said that he may put me out somewhere with someone that struggles with obedience in the middle of no where. Because they wont have any option of doing something disobedient with me. Or I will double transfer train another place like Brookings. But I dunno we will see what happens. Transfers are on May 20th so one of us will be leaving on that day. I'm not 100% sure but I think that I will be leaving because this is Elder Davis' first area. Going back to interviews yes we interview with Sister Young when your companion is with President.

So this week was okay. We had some pretty good highs and lows. Last P-day a member in the ward took us golfing at the golf course he manages which was awesome! Then we came back went tracting and had our dinner late because it was going to be dropped off to us. I started feeling really sick and puked for the first time on the mission! I was sitting on the tub the first time I puked which turns out not to be a good idea because I got vomit up my nose which burns! Then the pizza was dropped off so all I could smell was puke and pizza. Then I puked again. But I woke up the next morning and felt great! 

We met some awesome people this week through tracting. A family let us in and we were able to teach them the Plan of Salvation. The husband is an excommunicated Jehovah's witness and I will say they are incredibly harsh on those that they excommunicate. But we have another lesson with them this week. We also tracted in to another lady who had accepted a baptismal date which is awesome! And we had a really spiritual lesson a lady named Heather which was awesome!

When we were tracting on Saturday, we were at an intersection when a guy pulled over  behind us, opened his door, and puked. It was pretty funny. Then we did service for 4 hours for this guy that we tracted in to. it was pretty cool. anyways that's about it for this week! love ya!

Elder Berg

Apr 16th, 2013

Hey mom! thanks for the email. Things are going pretty good here in Brookings. Yesterday we had Lori show up with her son Christian as well as another lady we are working with named Katie and her 4 kids. So that was great!

So there aren't too many highlights for this last week. We did have an awesome lesson with Seth and Cassandra this last week. We were going to teach them the Gospel of Jesus Christ but they had some questions that took the lesson down a different path. They had some questions about the Plan of Salvation and our pre-earth life and life after this. So we were explaining a little about it and that our families can be sealed forever. So we started talking about eternal marriage and the Temple. At first they weren't terribly happy hearing about eternal marriage because they thought that when you were married here on earth that you were stuck forever even after divorce. So they thought that they were sealed still to their previous spouses still. So we had to explain that they weren't and that marriage isn't eternal until we go the the temple and are sealed for eternity. That we aren't sealed unless we do that. After we explained that they had a sigh of relief and then started giving each other high fives. Then they started talking about how they should maybe get sealed together and to their kids. Cassandra had one of the Salt Lake City temple pass along cards and said "I want to get sealed here!" then Seth said "Yeah I wanna get sealed in Hogwarts!" So we talked to them about what steps need to be taken in order to do so and that the first step is to pray and think about what we have taught them. Then to be Baptized by someone that holds that proper Priesthood authority. They are awesome! 

So that is the highlight for the week!  

Brookings Pics

April 8th 2013

Hey Mom,

Things have been going pretty good here in Brookings. This morning we had interviews with President and Sister Young. It was pretty good to be able to talk with them for while. Usually interviews are like 3-5 minutes but this one was a little longer for everyone because they are coming to each area to do interviews. Yesterday we spoke in sacrament meeting. It was great for investigators and non-members to be there because we spoke on the apostasy and the Restoration. But none of our investigators showed up which was super lame.

On Monday we set a baptismal date with someone but on Sunday they said that they weren't ready to make that commitment. So that was a high-low for us. Friday we went to North Bend for Zone Training meeting which was pretty good but the drive takes forever and a day. In order to get there on time we have to leave here at about 5:30 to be at the meeting by 8.

Last p-day we went to see some of the redwoods that are up the Chetco river. Those trees are huge! you could stand inside one of them and still  be able to touch the sides. Well that is pretty much it for this week. We are trying to get a few people on a baptismal date so hopefully everything will work out!

April 1st 2013

Hey mom!

Thanks for the email. This week was pretty good. President Young came down to teach the 3rd hour yesterday which was awesome! That will probably be one of the most memorable Sundays ever. Before church we had a meeting with the Priesthood executive committee and had a dedicatory prayer for the Brookings ward boundary. It was a great experience. It was fast and testimony meeting so there were tons of people that got up to bear their testimonies and we ended super late because there was a constant flow of people to the pulpit. The 3rd hour lesson was about Easter and about how we can share the Gospel with people around us. Then we had dinner with President and Sister Young with our ward mission leader.

So a few days ago we were tracting down a road and met a guy named Chris who said that we could come back on Sunday. So we came back and met with him and his girlfriend after our dinner with our ward mission leader. We had a great brief visit with them but we had to go because they completely forgot we were coming and were having guests over for an Easter celebration. But he had some family that was LDS and had said that he thinks God is trying to tell him something lately. Then his girlfriend Katie said "More like he came and kicked the door down!" So he really wants to come to church and meet with us more. He told us that he has and aunt who is LDS and has been trying to get him to church for a while. Sunday she called him to see if he went yet and when he said no she said "Do you need me to send the missionaries over there?" And he told her he had talked to us a few days earlier and that we were coming by later that day.

We have an investigator who is getting baptized in about a month! We are really excited about it. Her Husband is a member but hasn't been active since the mid 90's but loves the church.

Anyways those are the highlights for this week. 

March 25th, 2013

Hey Mom,
Things are going pretty good here in Brookings. We have had quite a few cancellations this week. We have been visiting a ton of less actives. We have been invited in to homes to say prayers with people. I believe 3 different people let us in to do that so that has been pretty cool. But that's about all that has been happening lately. We taught the Petersons this week and Mrs Peterson is a super detailed reader. So far she had read into Mosiah and had a few really in depth questions for us. But luckily we were able to answer them. But now they want us to wait a month before we come back. 

Sushi in Oregon

March 18th 2013

Hey Mom,

I hope you got my email about the change in policy for emailing people. I am so glad that we can email everyone now! that makes it a lot easier to communicate with recent converts as well as members from previous areas. So let everyone know!

Things have been going pretty good here in Brookings. We have been doing a lot of tracting. That seems to be pretty much all we do. We haven't had very many people that will set a specific return appointment but we do have a lot of people that told us we can just drop by some other time.

So we had our Zone conference in Eugene this last Wednesday. It was really good but the traveling there and back was insane! We left Tuesday night at about 6:30 to pick up Elder and Sister Montgomery and take them to a member in Coos Bay to spend the night. Then we went to the zone leaders to stay there. We got up the next day at 5 to continue to Eugene. The drive there and back was forever long! Not just because of the time it took but also because Elder Davis had to teach the senior couple how to use their new mission touch phone. They don't even know how to use a computer or regular cell phone so it was a very slow process to try and teach them. But we had about 8 total driving hours to teach them.

This week we had some pretty intense lessons with people. Our ward mission leader and his wife invited some of their neighbors to hear the missionary lessons but all they really did was try and tell us why we were wrong. So it was pretty interesting. But they told us that we were adorable. I don't  think that members and missionaries get it but people are always watching you. We run in to people that say "Oh I knew a guy that was Mormon and he..." and goes on to say something that they did that wasn't right. I understand that it is a perfect religion made of imperfect people however it is sad to see that someone won't even begin to listen to us because of stupid missionaries or members in the past that weren't living what they were teaching. This lady was the same way. She didn't want to listen to us because she watched the way missionaries acted in a restaurant to try and get people to pay for their meals. So she thought we were the same way. And the way members of the church treated her in the past. (However she did say some things that were definitely not right when she talked about organization aspects of the church) but still. I think we need to follow the scripture that says: "Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity." (1Timothy 4:12)

Anyways other then that things have been pretty good. Sunday we had 4 really intense discussions with people through tracting. A less active, a Lutheran pastor, a Jehovah's Witness and  someone that goes to the Nazarene church. The Nazarene lady was a pretty neat person who said that we could come by again.

Well that is pretty much all the exciting things that has happened lately. One other thing because I am going to send a picture with it. Members took us out to Sushi for lunch the other day and it was crazy good!

Brookings Coast and Travel

March 11, 2013

Hey Mom,

Thanks for the email. Things are going pretty good here we haven't had very many lessons since we have been here but we are trying to get more. We did teach a guy named Robert that we tracted in to who when we came back for our 2nd appointment he was already on chapter 11 of 1 Nephi. So we have a lot of faith in him. Last Sunday we tracted in to a couple who invited us in and saturday we had our 2nd lesson. They are both very friendly but Donna was the one that discusses religion more. She asked about how we believed that Chirst visited the Americas and how she has Native American roots that tell similar stories. So we read 3 Nephi chaper 11 with her. Right after reading she asked us to give her a month to read and digest the Book of Mormon. But the lesson went pretty good and we told her we would swing by once a week or so. Those are our main investigators right now. We also taught a young guy named Jamie who is in the Coast Guard. We tracted in to him and set up a return appointment. We were able to teach him and his roomate the Restoration which went well however he will be out of town for about a month. So basically we need to find more people that can meet with us sooner.

So this last week we had zone training meeting up in North Bend and had to travel an hour of our trip in a tiny truck (I will include pictures) and the meeting plus travel took up pretty much all day. Tomorrow we have to go to North Bend, stay the night and continue to Eugene for a meeting wednesday morning. After the meeting we have to drive all the way back to Brookings so we will loose another day. Hopefully we will be able to get some missionary work done! It takes sooooo long to travel anywhere. But I guess its worth being in Brookings. Anyway, there isn't much else to report on. Love ya

March 4th, 2013

Hey mom!
So first off I better answer your questions:
Brookings is awesome! I love it here. When we got here no one knew we were coming. I went up to Eugene to go to the trainers conference on Tuesday and there were 35 trainers, the most this mission has had in one group. So we got to Eugene, had our conference stayed the night at the assistants and went on a run with president, got ready, then continued our trainers conference till the new missionaries got here. My new companion is Elder Davis from Sandy. He is a pretty cool guy and is already an awesome missionary. So Wednesday night we loaded up our fusion and stayed the night in North Bend. Then the next day we continued to Brookings. We got in to town at about 2:15. Our apartment wasn't really set up at all except our beds so we took a few minutes to bring our stuff in and set up some lights.
After we went tracting so we could start to build our teaching pool. On the 3rd door the guy let us in which was awesome! We taught him a majority of the restoration and set up a time to come back. So pretty much this area is just ready for miracles. We got back to our apartment, called the Bishop to set up a time so we could meet him and he had no idea Brookings was getting missionaries. So we surprised him with our phone call. He gave us the phone number for our ward mission leader so we gave him a call to let him know we were here. He invited us over immediately for dinner and we were able to get to know him a little bit more. He and his wife just finished their mission in Germany and it turns out that they know Chase Carlson.
After we met them we went shopping for some things then went to the church to have our meeting with Bishop. We walked in the door shook hands with Bishop and then the Relief Society president shook our hands and asked if we were just there for the day or if we were their missionaries. We told her that we were the Brookings missionaries so she grabbed us and brought us into the gym where the Relief Society was having some sort of activity. We walked in and they started clapping and cheering and were asking if we were their Elders of if we were just there on and off. We told them that we were theirs and they started going crazy! One lady said that the last time they had Elders was in 1988. But someone else said it was about 15-20 years ago. So they were crazy excited to see us.
On Friday we had our district meeting up in Bandon which is an hour and a half away. We have to drive up to Port Orford to get a ride with the Montgomerys and ride the rest of the way. The only downside is they have one of those tiny trucks that has the fold down chairs that face each other so we were crammed. President Young came to our district meeting which was great because he pretty much taught all of it. But anyways its really weird having all sisters and a senior couple. They are all good missionaries. In Coquille we have Sister Washburn and Sister Durthy who have both been out for only 5 weeks. Then in Bandon we have Sister Williams and her trainee, Elder and Sister Montgomery who were just transferred here and us. So our entire district is new. But anyways after district meeting president took us out to the beach to dedicate the area and then to lunch. When we got home we went tracting and when we came home we found some members outside writing us a note. They said that if we needed anything to give them a call and they would help us out. They asked us what we had then went to the store, bought us a ton of stuff then took us out to dinner. Then they set up a dinner for us Saturday. So we ward is taking great care of us. Sunday was awesome because people were giving us referrals and all of testimony meeting was around missionary work. We went tracting and got let in again and while we were tracting we were given crab and smoked salmon so things are going great! But I gotta go because we only have an hour. Our address is 606 Easy St unit i Brookings 97415 but I gotta go love ya!

Feb 21st 2013

Hey Mom,

Thanks for the email. 

So we got transfer calls and I am training a new missionary while opening up a new area as a district leader. I am really excited about it! Well I'm really excited about the first 2 callings. I'm not terribly excited to be a district leader again but I don't have a choice. Not saying that I would say no to the calling but I am the only Elder in my district. Well besides my companion. So this is whats going on in the Coos Bay zone: Florence is getting replaced by sisters. Reedsport is still a senior couple, Elder Williams is replacing me in North Bend, and Charleston is training in a tri-companionship. Coquille is being replaced by sisters along with Bandon. Port Orford hasn't had missionaries so a senior couple is opening it up. And for my companion and I, we are opening up Brookings which hasn't had Elders in at least 2 years. Probably more but as far as I have been able to figure out it has been over 2 years. So we are starting completely from scratch. They have had senior couples in and out but never Elders so hopefully tracting will be beneficial. I have talked to a few people who said that they have friends that live down there that want to take the lessons but don't want them from the Senior couples. So hopefully everything will work out. I get my new missionary Wednesday so I will be going to Eugene tomorrow for training. I am stoked! The only thing is my district consists of Bandon, Coquille, Port Orford, and Brookings. So I am pretty much a Relief society president over the Estrogen District because we have 5 sisters and 3 elders. But hey sisters baptize like crazy so hopefully our district will do awesome.

So nothing really exciting happened this week that I can think of. Just some lessons that were a little intense but just end up going around in a circle. so that has been really frustrating. But it was good to see some people for a last time. But anyways thats about it!

Feb 18, 2013

Hey Mom,

Thanks for the email! So things have been doing fairly good as far as the work is concerned. We have a family of 4 hopefully getting baptized next month. They are a great family. Hopefully another family of 4 will also be baptized as well next month but they are super indecisive.

 So as for things that have happened this week, we went to a part members home last Monday on our p-day because my companion signed me up to make cinnamon rolls for them, which I wasnt too happy about because that pretty much took up our entire pday. So that happened and then I was feeling pretty sick for the rest of the day. We had dinner with our Stake President Monday too which was pretty intense because he is a super intimidating guy. We could honestly probably start up a branch with all the people he has offended with his bluntness. But he is a really good Stake President. Supposedly he is one of the top 10 surgeons in the world. But that't just what we have been told.

We had some awesome lessons this week. We were teaching Troy and Mona and their daughters Kylee and Rylee a few times this week. It was great to see how the gospel had been bringing their family together and listening to them as they read the Book of Mormon and pray as a family. It was a great experience. They all came to church this week too. It's fun to have their principal as our ward mission leader because they are so excited to have him come to their house with "the mormons"

I'm not sure how it is back home but everyone in our zone seems to be trading off being sick. Lots of them with the flu.

So this week I got to go on 2 exchanges this week one with the Coquille elders and one with the Florence elders.
I went to Coquille to be with Elder Griffin. We had a pretty good exchange because we went to a small town they cover called Powers which is an hour away. They had a referral to go teach someone that lives there so we went to have our first lesson. He was a pretty nice guy but kinda crazy at the same time. He lives on a farm a few miles outside of town. He started talking to us about government conspiracies and the cure for cancer. He has been reading the Book of Mormon and said that he would like to join the church. But won't yet because he is involved in some legal complexities and won't join till after they are over with. That way he can pay a full tithe. After the lesson we went to Powers to try and visit some less actives. Powers is now the smallest town I have been in ever. There are about 300 people that live in Powers and we couldn't even find the town center really. We had to take a bathroom break and the only place open was a tiny cafe that had some awesome pie.

The next day we had district meeting and then I went up to Florence to be with Elder Bagley. It was a pretty fun exchange. We taught a kinda crazy weird old lady which was fun. Florence is a big retirement community so they don't really have too much going on. They might be getting sisters soon.

I don't know what my assignment is but President called me on Thursday and today, asked me a few questions and told me that I will probably be training in a new area. But transfers can change often so I will let you know next week.

Anyways I got to get going but hopefully I will be able to email you next week.

Feb 11, 2013

Hey Mom,

Thanks a ton for the package. It was great. Things have been pretty good here. We had a decent week this week. Troy and his girlfriend are getting baptized next month so hopefully that will go through. Also, we set a date with a girl named Kayla. She has to quit smoking though but she seems to want to quit. In her closing prayer she asked that she would have the urge to sell her cigarettes and hopefully give them a pretty good deal.

We went on a trio exchange with one of our assistants to the President this week which went pretty good. We taught Kevin and his 3 daughters the plan of salvation. They have been taught the lessons before but we are going through them again. I have learned that play dough is a great tool for teaching kids. Anyway they said that they know the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith was a prophet so they are praying and discussing a date to get baptized or if that is what they want to do.

After our zone training meeting we went on exchanges and I got to be with Elder Moua again for a day.

It's awesome to see the change in people when we teach them. We were teaching Kathy and when we got there she was super mad because her wallet was stolen but by the time we left she was laughing and having a good time. Another lady named Mickie also changed a lot during the lesson.

We tried to go see Will again but found out from his brother that he went to prison. Turns out he was trying to sharpen a machete on the pole of a stop sign. Then he took a chainsaw to a gas station, filled it up, started it, then ran down the road with it full blast while yelling at people. So we won't see him for quite a while.

So they are changing the way they do home teaching here in our stake because it is so low. And it should really help with missionary work. Now EVERYONE will be home taught. It's fun being a missionary at those kinds of meetings because it doesn't really apply to us and afterwards when they have refreshments we always get to take home whats left over.

While at that meeting I called a less active to confirm our appointment we had and he rescheduled. Then the next day (yesterday) we found out he died in a car wreck
earlier that morning. It was pretty nuts.

Anyways we did have a ton of less actives back at church. It was pretty good. But thats about it for this week!